Starring Faye Bendrups
Friday, November 8, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Saturday, November 9, 2024 at 2:00 pm
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Lina Prokofiev: an aspiring concert artist born in Madrid, glamorous, gregarious, independent, cosmopolitan and free. As a child, she travelled the world with her opera-singing parents, completed school in New York and spoke more than 6 languages fluently.
Her ambitions changed forever when she met the virtuoso pianist and composer Sergei Prokofiev at a concert he gave in Carnegie Hall. She supported Prokofiev through his early struggles, raised their two sons, abandoned her career for his, and stayed loyal to his memory until her death at the age of 91.
Lina’s story evokes aspects of a world in a state of flux; regime change, division, war in Europe, forced detentions, disappearances. Her life began to unravel in 1935 when Prokofiev was persuaded to return to the USSR. In 1948, as a foreigner, Lina was denounced as a counter-revolutionary spy and sentenced to 20 years hard labour in the Gulag. But she never gave up. In Lina’s words: “Life is fabulous! If you never stop fighting!”.
Australian writer/performer Faye Bendrups uses lyrics and music of Lina’s concert repertoire to illuminate her story. A minimalist sonic backdrop –ever evoking the spectre of Prokofiev- is played by Argentine musician Guillermo Anad on viola.
Performer: Faye Bendrups
Musician: Guillermo Anad
Director: Lisa Petty
Running Time: 80 minutes
